Director, Advisor Development

At CI, we see a great place to work as one that is a safe place for everyone to have a voice, where people are empowered to take ownership over meaningful work, where there is an opportunity to grow through stretching themselves, where they can work on innovative products and projects, and where employees are supported and engaged in doing so.

Reporting to the Head of Practice Management of CIGAM, the mandate of the Director, Advisor Development role is to identify and develop business strategies to enhance the reach and reputation of CIGAM.

In this role, the successful candidate is responsible for building and delivering sophisticated practice management educational programs and tools that support and provide professional development opportunities for financial advisors. This role will provide industry thought leadership on fundamental issues and deliver practice management solutions that focus on the maximum utilization of Practice Management resources. The overall objective of this role is to drive business growth and support CI’s sales goals through the enhancement of relationships with CI’s key channel partners.

• Act as business consultant to financial advisors on business models, branding, marketing, service levels, segmentation, etc.
• Apply specialized practice management expertise and industry knowledge to meet the needs of financial advisors, individual channel partners and internal clients.
• Research evolving practice management trends and issues to identify solutions to support financial advisors and recommend implementation methods for practice management tools to advisors, wholesalers and directors.
• Pitch ideas for practice management content to team members and internal clients.

• Design and develop ideas for digital engagement (blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.) for advisors to enhance CI’s brand in the value-add space.
• Research industry issues, trends and benchmarks for workshops and educational presentations for advisors and channel partners.
• Act as thought leader and subject matter expert on the fundamentals of practice management and regulatory reform issues to deliver highly effective programs and tools to maximize support to advisors and drive business growth.
• Deliver advisor workshops and educational presentations.

• Provide deep strategic thinking to enable and support CI’s strategy from a practice management perspective, helping to position the business for growth and differentiation.
• Develop and implement ideas that identify new and innovative ways to improve CI’s relationships with key business partners and drive business growth.

• 8+ years financial services industry experience with a focus on advisory practices
• A post-secondary education in business, marketing or communication
• Coaching certificate or training is an asset
• Adult education, presentation or facilitation training is an asset
• Proven oral communication, presentation, training and facilitation skills
• Business consulting and practice management expertise
• Deep understanding of financial advisory practice elements, best practices and the evolving financial services landscape
• Ability to work independently towards driving results, meeting deadlines and delivering of objectives
• Stakeholder Management – employing savvy communication and management processes to keep everyone informed.
• Show consistent emotional intelligence through self-awareness, self-management, motivation, empathy, social awareness and relationship management
• Demonstrate professional maturity in dealing with senior management, employees, and internal/external clients
• Create strong relationships with advisors across CI’s key distribution channels to enhance their ongoing professional development and increase usage of Practice Management programs and tools
• Understanding of adult learning theory and instructional design methodologies
• Exceptionally strong drive for results with a track record of meeting deadlines and delivering on objectives
• Strong work ethic and desire to help CI and advisors improve their businesses
• Proven ability to master technical/business content quickly…